Frontlines

Needles, PCLaw Now Offer Link

Alumni Computer Group, of Toronto, and Chesapeake Interlink, of Owings, Md., have collaborated to link their PCLaw/PCLawPro time-and-billing and Needles Case Management software services. Users now can link between the two programs to transfer client information, including names and addresses, from Needles to PCLaw, eliminating double-entry and improving accuracy, the companies note.

Needles users can now view a client's accounting balances in real-time, including trust funds and work in progress, without needing to open the PCLaw program. The link works with Needles 3.4+ and PCLaw/PCLawPro 5.0+.

Reader Response no. 300.

Cost Recovery System

ICG Research and Equitrac Corp. have introduced Partner Cost Recovery System 3. The upgrade includes Ethernet connectivity for control terminals, and call accounting buffers, as well as tools to improve recovery of client-related disbursements, and integration with third party systems.

NETPro Control Terminals for copiers, fax machines and multi-function devices offer full Ethernet and TCP/IP capabilities, including direct local and wide area network connection, it says. "Allocation Alert" delivers a desktop pop-up notification of any unallocated disbursements.

Equitrac, based in Coral Gables, Fla., is the exclusive Northern America distributor of the system.

Reader Response no. 301.

DocuLex Developments

DocuLex, based in Winter Haven, Fla., has released a new optical character recognition software for lawyers, and has upgraded its PDF.Capture document scanning, PDF conversion and file indexing software.

DocuLex OCR for Lawyers helps legal professionals convert paper documents and TIFF files to a text-based format, allowing documents to be compatible with third-party software, such as Microsoft Corp.'s Office suite, it says.

It generates a formatted text document that preserves the layout format, character, font and style of the original document.

PDF.Capture 5.2 incorporates DocuLex Goby, the company's two-dimensional bar code programming and recognition technology.

DocuLex Goby opens at a user's desktop, and allows users to type in a document profile, and print the profile with a local desktop laser printer. The user then scans the document along with the printed user-defined profile sheet. PDF Capture 5.2 recognizes the 2-D bar code on the sheet, and indexes the document and forwards the PDF file to the user-defined destination (including document management systems).

The upgrade offers a new scan memory feature to track the last assigned number; standard job templates; fixed page scanning, and more.

Reader Response no. 302.

LawPack Migration

Houston's Bridgeway Software Inc. has introduced its LawPack NextStep program, to help corporate law departments transition from Hummingbird Ltd.'s software to eCounsel. Hummingbird has announced plans to discontinue the case management service. Bridgeway offers three versions of its program: a "basic plan," a mid-tier "Best Bang for the Buck Plan," and a "full customization plan."

Reader Response no. 303.

Library Automation

Information Today Inc. has published its latest Directory of Library Automation software, Systems and Services. The 2002-2003 edition, edited by Pamela Cibbarelli, offers more than 300 pages, listing software for library automation, information management, text retrieval, and citation management, and more.

Reader Response no. 304.

ProVantage Agent

ProVantage Software Inc., of Kirkland, WA., announces its new ProVantage Agent Subsystem.

It improves exception reporting functions of the ProVantage financial management system, says the company. Users receive "Agent Alert" notification within ProVantage and/or via e-mail. It displays new unread "Agent Alert" notifications inside the Provantage toolbar, via electronic "sticky' notes. .

Reader Response no. 305.

X-Engineering

Consultant James Champy's latest book, X-Engineering the Corporation: Reinventing Your Business in the Digital Age, has been published by Warner Books. The book discusses changes in organizational cultures that are evolving in business environments. It focuses on the need for collaboration and open dialogue with clients and customers, and how the Internet is changing expectations.

Reader Response no. 307.

Prevent 'Hot Leg'

The Laptop Desk 2.0, from LapWorks Inc. of Cucamonga, Calif., is a nifty plastic device that can hold your notebook computer in your lap, or serve as an ergonomic desktop stand.

It prevents the annoying "hot leg" complaint faced by lawyers who try to type with laptops balanced on their knees.

Reader Response no. 309.

Moondances and other useful data

ASTRONOMICAL Facts, of Montgomery Village, Md., helps litigators prove the time of sunsets, twilight or other celestial data. Principal Patrick McCarthy was the celestial navigation expert at the Nautical Almanac Office of the U.S. Naval Observatory for six years.

Reader Response no. 308.

O'Connor Joins Trial Sites

Kevin O'Connor

Kevin O'Connor, formerly with SRA International Inc. and Flywheel Communica-tions Inc., now is vice president of business development at Trial Site Services, in Washington, D.C. It has launched the ITC Resource Center, adjacent to the U.S. International Trade Com-mission, to provide logistical support to litigators with matters pending before the commission. Services include work space, telephone systems, a computer network, staffed copy center, courier services, office supplies, catering, and more.

Reader Response no. 310.